What does it mean to write toward something you can’t quite name: the sacred, the ineffable, the ecstatic, the sublime? Devotion, as a poetic impulse, transcends religious tradition. It is a practice of sustained attention to what we love most deeply, to what won’t let us go, to what exceeds ordinary language. We will study how poets across time and cultures have found form for their deepest desires and shaped that longing into art — then bring those lessons to bear on our own work. Reading list: Rumi, Hafez, St. John of the Cross, John Donne, Rilke, Denise Levertov, Mary Oliver, Christian Wiman and others. Create and share your work in a supportive environment that values rigor, exploration and joy. We hope you will join us.
In May 2025, I was named a co–first place winner in the Raymond Carver Writing Festival Poetry Contest. The award was presented in Clatskanie, Oregon—Raymond Carver’s hometown.
I’m pleased to tell you my new book of poetry,



